One of the primary goals in the development of advanced gas turbine engines is to maximize the ratio of thrust output to engine weight. Approaches for increasing the engine thrust-to-weight ratio include increasing the engine specific thrust (thrust/airflow) and reducing the engines specific weight (weight/airflow). An increase in specific thrust may be obtained by increasing the turbine rotor inlet temperature. A decrease in specific weight may be obtained by decreasing the density and/or the size of engine components. Neither approach is feasible with conventional materials.
There is an intensive effort to develop advanced materials and innovative configurations to provide lower density engine components which exhibit improved resistance to elevated temperature.